Articles written by Heidi Hess Saxton

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About me - Heidi Hess Saxton

A professional writer and editor with more than 15 years in religious publishing, Heidi is also a wife and mother of two young children who were foster-adopted in 2005.

Editor of "Canticle" magazine (for faith-filled Catholic women, www.canticlemagazine.com),

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Religion & Spirituality > Christian Beliefs & Culture Testimonies: Why the Christian cross is important to me: 2 of 44

A simple wooden marker on a roadside shrine. An exquisite image of spun gold, created to adorn the altar of a grand cathedral. Either way, the medium is less important than the spiritual legacy it represents. For two billion Christians around the world, the cross is an irresistible symbol of faith, hope and love. It is a sym...
Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms Anti-bias training for children: 1 of 16

"We're different ... we're the same!" I picked up this Sesame Street classic shortly after we became foster parents of three siblings, ages five years to six months. The younger two didn't talk yet, but the oldest girl had already formed some definite impressions about people of other races, including an unabashed familiarit...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Teens How to know if your teen is ready for a job: 1 of 9

Has your teen's taste for clothing and electronic gadgets left you with bills that exceed not only your own budget, but that of many third-world countries? Is she gently (or even more urgently) hinting that she'd like her own phone, wheels, or American Express Platinum? Does your young adult regularly perform chores around t...
Relationships & Family > Domestic Violence & Abuse Is there life after domestic violence?: 4 of 31

The air was charged with excitement as my extended family gathered to celebrate a birthday. Some of us had traveled hundreds of miles, and we were all engrossed in lively conversation when a close relative I'll call "Kate" and her three-year-old daughter pulled into the driveway in a shiny BMW. "What is she doing with a car ...
Business > Office Tips for organizing an office Christmas party: 2 of 14

If you like throwing parties, organizing the office Christmas party is a wonderful opportunity to let others see you at your best. (If you don't have much experience planning parties, this would be a good time to call in reinforcements, including someone who does them well.) First you need to do a little fact-finding: * How ...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Teens How to keep your teen girl safe when she parties: 2 of 11

"Girls just want to have fun ..." sang 80s pop sensation Cyndi Lauper. While it's true that girls enjoy hanging out with friends, there are other deep-seated yearnings in the heart of the average teenager about which parents also need to be aware: Among them, the desire to be beautiful, the desire to be popular, and the desi...
Society & Lifestyle > South & Central American Culture Differences between Latinos and African-Americans: 2 of 8

If I had to identify the single most important distinction between Latino and African-American culture, that difference would be the Patron Saint of the Americas: Our Lady of Guadalupe. While African-American Catholics do have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the Virgin of Guadalupe is present within the Latin-American cult...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Teens How to keep your teen boy safe when he parties: 1 of 4

Having fun and making friends are two occupations high on the "to do" list of most teenagers. They crave independence, and yearn for the time when they are regarded as adults. The greatest challenge parents face, then, is to show their young people - as much if not more by their actions as their words - what it means to grow...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Parenting Teens How to encourage good body image in your teen: 6 of 22

It's hard to imagine that my daughter Sarah will ever have negative thoughts about herself, especially about her appearances. She waltzes through life with a breathtaking sense of style, clad in everything from bathing suit bottom (crotch over one shoulder) and tutu to glittering loungewear and frog slippers. And yet, I know...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Adoption Adopting siblings: The benefits: 2 of 6

33 Reasons to Adopt Siblings Some time ago I wrote an article on Post-Adoption Depression Syndrome (PADS) that raised some mild protest from other adoptive parents. Some of them hinted (some quite broadly) that the article was unnecessarily discouraging prospective adoptive parents, and that I should be doing more to encoura...